This week, local justice advocacy groups will host a virtual candidate forum for the Travis County Commissioners Court election. Participating will be candidates for Precinct 2 Commissioner Bob Libal and Brigid Shea (incumbent), and candidates for Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez (incumbent) and Susanna Ledesma-Woody.
In 2019, a federal judge ruled that Harris County’s misdemeanor bond system was unconstitutionally keeping people stuck in jail before trial simply because they couldn’t afford to pay for their freedom. The county revamped its misdemeanor system to create a presumption of release for most low-level cases. In response, reform opponents unleashed a full-fledged attack in the press.
Read the rest of this article from the National Partnership for Pretrial Justice.
Across the country, pretrial reform measures have been shown to promote public safety, improve fairness, and uphold constitutional rights — undermining critics’ claims to the contrary.
Lawmakers don’t have enough information to manage Texas’ criminal justice system, and they should create a legislative committee to study the system’s most pressing problems and create reports with guidance and improvements — that was the assessment of a state review in 2006. Texas legislators heeded that recommendation. The next year, in 2007, they created the Criminal Justice Legislative Oversight Committee.
A new data tracker will highlight the role of bail bondsmen in the Harris County criminal justice system, pushing some transparency on an enterprise that has long operated with minimal oversight, according to county officials.
A new analysis of Houston-area TV stations’ coverage of crime and bond reform finds that local outlets frequently misrepresent the realities of the criminal legal system in ways that perpetuate negative stereotypes.
Last Tuesday’s Commissioners Court session focused on the future of the women’s jail. The Planning and Budget Office reported on the June 15 resolution, which asked county staff for strategies to reduce the number of incarcerated women and enhance jail services with diversion programs and other reforms.
Today, the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition (TCJC) released a guide analyzing positive justice legislation that became law during Texas’ 2021 regular session. The majority of bills go into effect on Wednesday, September 1.
